In perhaps 10 to 15 years from now, it is possible to live in Digos or Tagum and still work in Davao City by taking the train.
That is, if an ambitious 1,533 kilometer railway system spanning the various provinces and cities in Mindanao will materialize. To realize this, the Philippines is sending in fact a high-level delegation comprised of four department secretaries, including Transportation czar Arthur Tugade to China in a bid to wrap up negotiations for the funding of the railway system.
The railways system itself is part of a nationwide infra program comprising of railways, bridges and roads that the Duterte administration has envisioned for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Give credit to the Duterte administration for this game-changer. Think of the various economic opportunities it will trigger.
In his study of Philippine railways, Dr. Augusto V. de Viana of the National Historical Commission considered it odd that the Philippines had been one of the rare countries that “had not built a strong, reliable, and modern railway system.”
He added: “Most countries—rich and poor—take pride in their railway system. The train provides a fast, inexpensive, and comfortable system of transportation. It helps reduce road traffic and contributes to cleaner air. Developed and developing nations have also found the railways to be a great national unifying force and a solvent for class divisions.”
Would you believe that the railroad almost reached Baguio itself?
In 1909, the Philippine commission negotiated a railway extension with the Manila Railroad Company to link Dagupan City via Galiano and Aringay in La Union uphill to Benguet. The work started in 1911, but while progress was considered slow “due to rugged terrain, extremely steep grades and labor problems,” it managed to report an accomplishment rate of 80 percent in the establishment of the roadbed. It also reported the near completion of five major tunnels.
But on the pretext of nationalizing the railroads in the Philippines, Governor-General Francis B. Harrison stopped work on the extension in 1914. The Americans were convinced that a railroad was the most feasible system of transportation to the Benguet highlands. But in a moment of sudden inspiration, he said the government could postpone the railroad, and instead settle first for a temporary wagon road he estimated at $75,000 only! The commissioners agreed.
Yet when it was finished, it would cost the American colonial government $2,000,000.
The project also cost 500 Japanese lives from among a multi-national workforce of 2,000 assembled for the purpose. It also turned out that the zigzagging course was not part of the original plan but was resorted to in a bid to make up for an error in design. Since then as if by a curse, the government had to spend annually millions of pesos to repair this road, this year not being the exception.
As a sidelight, part of more than 3,000 multinational workforce that constructed the Kennon were to spread out to other parts of the Philippines, with an estimated 100 Japanese going to Davao. It was this group that established the Japanese colony in Mintal and their descendants are still there to this day.
As to the never-realized railroad, let us end with Dr. de Viana:
“By the mid-1980s, the Manila-La Union line was abandoned. What are left today are the abandoned tracks, bridges, and stations which were taken over by squatters. Access and right of way were taken over by interlopers. The politicians encouraged squatting for votes.
“The country’s railway service is a sorry shadow of its old self. The challenge to government or the private sector is how to restore the railway service which has always been the workhorse of all modern and developing countries of the world.”
Well, Professor Viana, change is coming finally to the islands with the national railway system soon to take shape—hopefully in this lifetime.
